Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Origin
by psychonator17
Summary: Every story has its beginning. And this one requires no explanation. A riolu with a mysterious rock and a dream, an amnesic charmander found washed up on the beach...and the ties that bind them to both the future, and the past.
1. Chapter 1: Waking Up

**Author's Note** : Welp, here's the beginning of my fanfic, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Origin. It's pretty much another Explorers of Sky Fanfic, starring my Explorers of Sky Team, Team Sunstars.

HOWEVER. I will be adding a few now extras and surprises here and there, especially with a few of the characters. I'm also planning to include a few Unova generation pokemon, though they won't appear in the story right away. (This actually started out with a Sonic the Hedgehog and PMD crossover when I began writing this, but the plot got so messed up, I recited the MMP motto and said "Screw it.")

Well, here's my first chapter, so...Enjoy! (or don't)

Pokemon belongs to Nintendo®.  
Characters belong to meh.

* * *

"...

"...W-where...where am I?..."

I opened my eyes a little. I can barely see anything, except...except something. Whatever it was, it was obscured by some blinding light...it was murmuring something to me I couldn't understand...who...what is it?

"...W-what...happened..."

 _"Whoa! A-are you okay?!"  
_

 _"No! I-I can't hold on!"  
_

 _"Just a little further! We're almost there!"  
_

 _"I-I can't...I can't...Grovyle...I'm sorry...!"  
_

 _KRRRACK **CRAAAAAAASSSHHH  
**_

 _"WAAAAAAAHHHH!"  
_

 _"NOOOOO! PABLOOOOOOOOOOOO—!"_

"...Can't move...Fading out...can't...hold on..."

 _...Accept our quest, hero!_

 **0~0~0  
** It was just another beautiful day in Treasure Town.

The sun was shining, the sky was blue as can be, and everywhere in the square, pokémon went through their daily business as usual. It was days like these that make you wanna kick back, relax, and let the time roll by.

But not for one kid. A lone riolu standing in front of a Wigglytuff shaped dome. He looked pretty nervous, but this was usually expected from him.

I ought to know. I was that riolu, afterall.

"...Hmmm..."

I paced the grounds a little, then looked back at the building.

"No. I'm not running away anymore. I've got to steel my courage today. This is your big day, Tyrone! Just join the Wigglytuff Guild, and make everyone proud!"

No one was watching me act like this, what a relief. Joining the guild's something I thought was almost impossible. I had tried to go in there at least several times, with encouragement from some of my friends, but was too scared to actually join them.

Wigglytuff's Guild was an association of Pokémon, who were excellent explorers. You see; it was always my life-long dream to become one of those explorers, ever since I was little. Today, however, like all other days, didn't look so promising.

As I stepped onto the grate, I hear that same, unfriendly voice:

"Footprint detected! Footprint detected!"

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"

"The footprint is riolu's! The footprint is—"

At this point, I didn't even stay to listen. I was already running away from the guild as fast as my little four feet could carry me. Joining the Guild just blew right past me. All I thought about was running and running, and running...

I finally stopped at the bottom of the steps leading toward it, and looked back.

"Aww! I did it AGAIN!"

Good thing no one was still around. I didn't know why I was so cowardly when it came to this. All I know that that I was scared. I'm just too scared to join.

"I guess this wasn't the day..."

I looked down at the stone tied across my neck.

"This treasure...it was supposed to inspire me. I thought I was going to get in today because of it. But...I just don't know if I can do it..."

I felt my ears droop sadly. Maybe I was wrong. All this time I've been trying to prepare myself to become and explorer, to become braver: and for what? THIS?

Maybe joining the guild isn't worth it. Maybe this whole exploration idea wasn't worth it. I just couldn't do it. I couldn't.

I shook my head miserably, turned around and headed for the beach.

"Well, just another day in the life of me, I guess..." I sighed, walking out towards the ocean.

As I walked, I looked down at the relic fragment across my neck. It looked like a piece of rock, from afar. But there these riveted patterns upon it, including two noticeable symbols in the middle: an orange sun with a red center, and a yellow moon with a blue outline layered on top, looking as though they one of the same thing. I didn't know much about this thing, either, but I knew it's probably the sole thing that sparked my passion to become an explorer.

But then, exploring was something my family was known for; they expected me to find interest in it, but never thought I would plan to make something out of my life because of it. It was probably because...

No. I just didn't want to think about that right now.

"...Oh! It looks like I came at the right time, again!"

I smiled, looking up to see the many bubbles floating lazily in the air.

Every day, whenever the weather was good, the krabby would come out to blow bubbles. All those bubbles—they were so beautiful, catching the sun's rays, then rising up like colorful balloons. I have to admit, it filled me with awe, just watching this.

I stood there silently, to let the feeling sink in. This was why I enjoyed coming to this place when I was down...no. I loved it here. It was just so uplifting.

Still, I thought that today was going to be another normal day: I would try to join Wigglytuff's Guild, and either get caught by the sentry and flea, or give up.

Yes, this was definitely going be another normal day...

"...Huh? What...what's that?"

...That is...until I met _him_.

My eyes caught sight of an out-of-place obstruction on the shore, just as the waves rolled out. It doesn't look like anything at first, just a bright orange rock covered in some seaweed.

"...It's probably just a funny-looking Magikarp." I chuckled.

Boy, oh boy, was I wrong.

"...Hey...HEY! Th-that's not a Magikarp!"

I don't know how he got there, but he was there...just...lying there on the shore, salt water slowly spilling out his nostrils.

I quickly dashed towards him and got a closer look. By the looks of him, he was a charmander, and a very drowned out one at that.

What happened to him? Was he dead? I felt his pulse—

No, he was breathing. Definitely alive.

The tides were rolling back in. I had to do something, and fast.

 **0-0-0  
** _..._

 _...What happened? Where am I?  
_

 _I feel a gentle breeze...it's so nice and cool...  
_

 _I think I hear a voice...who's shaking me?  
_

"...Ar...kay?

"..ake up! C'mon! Please say something!"

"Uggghhh..."

I let out a gurgle as I open my eyelids halfway. I felt like I just hit with a heavy load of muddy water, and took it down whole. Feeling it rush up my lungs, I tilted a little to my side so I could spew it out freely. It took a couple minutes, but soon I could finally breathe in some fresh air.

I rolled onto my back again, and try to identify my surroundings.

Where was I? I was lying on a beach, because I felt cool sand on my back, and I could now hear the gentle ocean waves.

What time was it? It was afternoon, I could tell from the color of sky, looking up.

Who was talking to me?

The hell should I know? I couldn't even see him.

I slowly got into a sitting position, rubbing my head as I sat up.

"Oh! You're awake! That's a relief." The voice sighed, relieved.

"Yeah...Ohhh...What happened last night?"

"Well, there was a heavy storm last night. I sure hope you didn't get caught—"

I cut him off.

"Wait a minute...w-where am I?" I stood up and stared at my surroundings.

"You're on the shore of a beach. This is This is Lignume—the Forest Region. It's surprising that you swam all the way here."

"No. That couldn't have happened...the last time I remember swimming was—" I turned to the source of the voice.

"—was..."

A blue jackal was standing in front of me, on two hind legs. He was a pale blue on his top half, and black on the bottom, where a pastel-like pattern raveled across his torso. The mask across his face and muzzle had two dreadlock thingies dangling on either side of his head. He looked at me with gleaming red eyes, but they didn't seem to be threatening. In fact, they seemed to look very friendly. It was a riolu: the eminent pokémon.

"Anyway, my name's Tyrone. Glad to meet you!" He replied cheerfully. "And who are you? I don't think I've seen a pokémon like you before."

"Um...you're talking to me? You were talking...to me."

The riolu's smile faded and he looked at me in confusion. You would too, seeing a pokémon talk for a first time.

"Um...yes, I was talking to you. It should be normal to you, being a pokémon."

"Well, maybe it's because I'm not! I'm a human!"

His eyes widened.

"What?"

"...You're...a human?"

"Well, DUH! Of course I am! Who do you think I am?"

"Well, it's just..." He got up, looked at me from an angle a couple times, then finished, "You look like a normal Charmander to me."

I blanked. What did he just call me?

"Hello?"

I chuckled. This was just a joke. He couldn't seriously think I was a pokémon.

"That's funny...heh...For a second, there, I thought you said I looked like a pokémon!"

"Well, you do! And maybe it's because you ARE one!" He pointed to one of the small tide pools for me to look into.

 _This riolu's gotta be kidding!_ I thought to myself, laughing.

I finally got a good look at my—claws? What happened to my hands? My fingers were tiny and—orange!

I quickly rushed to a tide pool, just to take a good look at myself.

The reflection of a salamander was staring right back at me. His face was all orange, and he had two peridot eyes, wide with shock.

I cried in astonishment, jumped back, and looked frantically at the rest of my body. Boy, was I wrong.

My body was all orange, extending to my short legs. My toes—three tiny white claws on the bottom of each. A cream-colored part covered my belly reaching all the way to the bottom of my tail—my tail! My tail was on fire!

 _This...this CAN'T be me!_ I thought for a second. _I-I've GOT to be seeing things...!  
_

I tried blinking back to reality. Nothing changed.

"I-I'm dreaming..! I have to be dreaming...!"

I slapped myself in the face. Nothing changed.

"I've got to be HALLUCINATING! Yeah, that's it! It's all just a hallucination! Just gotta make it HURT, that's all!"

I immediately bit into an arm, hoping that it would snap me out of this crazy dream. Instantly, I felt a heavy burning sensation in my—wait. I just felt that.

So that means—

"...GAAAAH! IT BURNS! _IT BUUUUURRRRNNS!_ "

I fell flat on my face in the sand and squint my eyes shut, trying hard to will myself back to reality. This was all just a crazy dream, and all I had to do was wake up, and...

I opened my eyes again. My hands—my body—my everything—they were still a charmander's.

"No...it-it's true! I've turned into a—a pokémon!...That's pretty awesome, actually! Wait, WHAT?! What am I SAYING?! WHERE AM I WHAT'S GOING ON AND WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO ME?!" I shook my head frantically.

"Hey, hey! Calm down!" I felt a paw grasp my arm, shaking me back. I slowly eased up.

I looked up at the riolu, who was starting to look really worried.

"This is...real?" I asked nervously.

"I'm afraid so. Are you really sure you're okay? You're not making some kind of joke, are you?"

"N-no! I'm not kidding! Seriously!"

The riolu looked at me for a few for seconds, then sighed.

"Okay...I believe you. I'm sorry for doubting you."

"Thank you...Well, I'm the one who was freaking out over everything. So, uh...ahem. Thanks for stopping me."

"Oh, it's okay." The riolu—Tyrone—chuckled. "So, you say you're a human, huh? Well, if that's the case, how did you turn into a pokémon?"

"Well...um...err..."

I tried to think back to whatever happened before I landed here—whatever it was.

...Why wasn't it coming to me?

...why couldn't I...remember...

"...I dunno. I can't remember anything that happened."

"Oh? Y-you forgot who you are?" Tyrone asked surprisingly.

"Yeah...All I know is that I was a human, and that, just today, I woke up looking like this."

I did a little dance with one foot, just to make sure I was still awake. "Nothin' else."

"Well, what about your name?"

"Huh?"

"Your name." Tyrone repeated. "What's your name?"

"My...name? Um..."

I lowered my head a bit, thinking. I couldn't remember enough about myself, but I know I remembered my name.

I think. It started with a P...PB? Paul? Paulo? Pablo...!

"...Oh, yeah, I remember. It's Pablo. The name's Pablo."

Well, it was a good thing I remembered that, at least.

"...I see. So, your name's Pablo, huh? Well—"

All of a sudden, the kid started laughing. "It's a funny name!"

I blanked at him, then gave a little chuckle. "Well, excuse e' moi? But Tyrone doesn't sound like a normal name, either! You know what? I'm just gonna call you Ty."  
Ty, regaining his composure, finally said, "A little touchy, eh? Well, call me what you will. At least you're not a bad pokémon. You see, recently, many bad pokémon have started to show up on Lignume. It's all starting to become lawless..."

"Well that must suck real bad." I said with a bit of unease.

"Yeah, I know. But what about you? Being a human? That's almost imposs—AUGH!"

All at once, the riolu toppled into the sand.

I looked up to who, or what, knocked him down.

Two floating creatures: one a bat, with pale blue skin, no eyes or legs, and purple ears and wings, and the other a purple ball with cloudy smog coming out of its pores.

 _Yep._ I thought. _These two are nothin' but trouble._

 **0~0~0  
** "Pardon us!"

"We just came to mess with wimps like you! Heh-heh!"

I turned around to see two pokémon hovering above me: Koffing and Zubat.

"Well? Are you gonna fight us? Or is it cause you're a little scaredy-puppy? Heh-heh!"

"M-my treasure!" As I sat up, I saw my Relic Fragment lying behind me.

"Your TREASURE?" Koffing exclaimed. "Now there's something we find interesting!"

"I'll take—vhat!" Zubat clamped the piece of stone between his teeth.

"H-hey! Please give that back!"

"Whoa ho-ho! Not even gonna try and make a move on us? I didn't think you'd be such a big scaredy-puppy!"

"...Uh—I—"

"We beth vschedadle! Lather, shkarety-phuphy! Gheh-gheh!"

And before I could say anything, they were off, laughing the whole way into the left-hand cave.

"Hey wait! Oh...oh no..."

I stood there for a few moments in shock, then sunk to my knees

"M-my treasure...That's all I have left! If anything happens to it, I...I...I have to get it back. I'm sorry...it was nice meeting you...Pablo..."

And before he could react, I was off running after Koffing and Zubat, trying my best to hold back mixed tears of cowardice and humiliation.

 _...What if they're right? I am too scared to do anything. What if I'm too late? They're probably miles away by now! Oh man...What am I gonna do?  
_

"HEY!"

I suddenly heard Pablo call out my name, and I quickly veered my head to him.

"Yeah?"

He closed his eyes.

"I may not know what's going on here. But watching you getting picked on the way you were…that just makes me plain sick. So—"

He suddenly opened his eyes, and a look of determination formed on his face.

"—I'll help you get your treasure back.

"R-really? You mean it? T-thank you!"

"Don't mention it. But we can't just stand around while those two are making off with our prize. They've gotten a good head start on us—so, let's go!"


	2. Chapter 2: The Chosen Path

"Are you sure you know where you're going?"

"No. But do you want your treasure back, or not?"

"Well, yeah, but—"

"Then we've got to catch up with them, and at this rate, we'll find them in no time!"

"Okay..."

This would've been a little scary for me, had Pablo not made the decision to come along. As we kept moving, I observed my surroundings. The cave was pretty dark and murky, with wet moss covering some rocks. In a place like this, you'd probably wonder how we could see in the dark. It's a good thing Pablo's tail provided some light, which made the cave look a little less eerie.

"This cave looks like it goes for the full length of the beach. Are you sure this is the right way?" I asked.

"Well...no. But the smell seems promising enough."

I couldn't help but agree. After all, how else could you track a Koffing other than its stench?

After a while, Pablo stopped at a fork. The cave was starting to split into two different paths: one winding up and to the right, the other one to the left.

"So...Which way should we go?" Pablo asked me.

"I'd say up's the way to go—" I began, but stopped suddenly.

"Uh-oh. We've got company."

"Huh?"

Pablo turned to see several pokémon coming toward us: a kabuto, two Shellos, and a Corsola. And they didn't seem to look very friendly.

"Uh, hi there?" Pablo muttered anxiously. "Hey, you didn't happen to see a Koffing or Zubat float by, did you?"

They said nothing.

"Um...hello there...?"

"Er, Pablo..." I whimpered. "I don't think they're going to tell us."

"What makes you think—agh!" Pablo cried, as the shellos threw some mud into his face.

"Rrggh...Sling mud on me, will ya?!"

He wiped the mud off, then hit the Shellos with ember. Surprisingly, it knocked the pokémon out cold.

The Corsola tried to hit him with a water gun, but he quickly evaded and struck back with another ember.

"There!" He grunted, just as the Corsola collapsed. "That takes care of 'em. So how was that?"

"..."

"What?"

I gestured for him to feel the top of his head. As he did, a blank expression came upon his face. "Ty...Tell me that's just mold from the ceiling..."

"No...the Kabuto jumped on your head..." I said into a hushed whisper.

And chaos ensued immediately.

Pablo just freaked out, running around in circles, arms flailing in an attempt to yank the kabuto off, and screaming, "GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!"

"H-hey! C-calm down! You need to attack it in order to get it off!"

"WELL, DON'T JUST STAND THERE! HIT ME! **HIT ME!** "

"Ok, ok! Hang on; I'll knock it off with quick attack! Just _hold still!_ "

The Charmander froze into place, still looking frantic.

I got into a ready position, making sure to hit the kabuto at the right angle, and lunged my body into the both of them.

I got the creeper off—but Pablo just disappeared down the path below, and I heard a loud clump at the bottom. I guess we were taking the low road.

"You okay?" I asked, running down to see how he was.

"...Peachy. Now please, help me up."

* * *

After the little "Kabuto Escapade", we continued our trek through the Beach Cave. It was still dark, and there were several other wild pokémon in our way, along with the ones we first encountered. But other than that, nothing a fighting type couldn't handle. Pablo didn't seem so ready, though. He was almost defeated by some of them.

"Ugh, can't believe I almost got K.O'd by bubbles. So, Ty, I'm just wondering..." Pablo asked me as chewed on an oran berry we found on the way. "What's with this place? It's shaped so strangely, almost like rooms and small passages. And it seems like there are wild pokémon everywhere we turn."

"Well, this is an example of a mystery dungeon." I replied shortly.

"A mystery dungeon?"

I stopped for a second, and explained:

"Mystery dungeons are basically made up of floors, hallways (or pathways, depending on the region), and stairs that connect each floor. Limitless amount of enemies also tend to appear, and, for some strange reason, your belly seems to empty faster, so you need to eat often. Every floor changes after you leave, or when you come back to it, so it's never the same every time. That's what makes them great places for exploring!"

"So...how does that work?" Pablo asked.

"If I knew that, it wouldn't be a mystery, would it?"

It was only after a few minutes did I pick up a familiar scent.

"You smell that?"

"Yeah." Pablo shuddered, holding his nose. "We're getting close, alright."

 **0-0-0**

"Well, I'M the one who made the idea to steal the damn thing, so I'M the one who gets the profit!"

We stopped and listened as Koffing and Zubat arguing over who should get more of the profit when we neared the last room. Zubat, of course, had dropped the Relic Fragment out of his mouth as he spoke.

"No, I should get it! If I hadn't taken that puny puppy by surprise, that rock would NEVER have been ours! And look! You've led us to a freakin' dead end! That just makes you—"

"Uh...h-hey!"

They both turned around to see Ty and me, standing at the entrance. Ty didn't look so ready, shaking a bit on arrival.

Koffing laughed upon seeing me and sneered, "Well, well, well. If it ain't our old friend, the lil' scaredy-puppy!"

"Yeah! What'ya want, scaredy-puppy?"

Ty cringed upon hearing his remark. But I heard him say silently to himself as he was hunched over:

"C'mon, Ty, pull yourself together. You've GOT to be BRAVE!"

Almost upon saying this, he got back up and suddenly growled back. "W-what do you think?! I want my treasure back...NOW!"

"Heh, Tough words kid." Neither Koffing nor Zubat seemed the least bit phased.

"You really care about that thing? Guess it would sell at a high price! Heh-heh!"

"What?! Y-you actually plan on selling that thing?!"

"Bet it's worth a fortune! Whoa-ho-ho! All the more reason not to give it back!"

Wow. How stupid were these guys?

"Look, you heard him!" I spoke up finally. "That thing belongs to him, not some stink-bags like you! So just give back to him, and I won't have to kick your asses!"

"Oooo! So now the big bad mander's gonna preach for us!" Koffing chortled. "And what're you gonna do if we don't, Yoshi!"

...Yoshi? YOSHI?!

Okay, _NOW_ these guys were screwed!

"You want this so badly?" Zubat and Koffing floated forward, blocking my treasure from view. "Come and get it! Heh-heh!"

I smiled at them. "My pleasure. Eat ember!"

I inhaled, and spewed out a fireball at Koffing. They both made a quick dodge, and I just ended up hitting a rock behind them. But it was some hit—the rock was practically scorched.

Koffing shot a sludge bomb at us, forcing us to scatter. Ty sort of landed on his butt after Koffing attempted to attack us, but quickly flipped back up into battle stance.

I actually did well for my first major pokémon battle. I was dodging sludge bomb barrages from Koffing, jumping forward and back, side-to-side. Thankfully, I was so fast that Koffing couldn't even draw a bead on me. After a few more shots, I made a short jump and disappeared into the air.

Koffing became absolutely bewildered.

"What the—? Where did he go?"

"Hey! Stink ball!" I shouted, "Behind you! _Extremespeed!_ "

I launched my body outward, leaving a trail of holographic fire behind me, and drove a clenched fist right into Koffing's face. I landed feet-first in the smooth sand, a wide grin on my face at the gas ball, face flat in the ground.

"Made ya look!"

"You little—stay STILL!" Koffing barked, as he lunged at me.

"Whoop! Miss! Too slow! Fail! Total Fail! EPIC fail!" I taunted again and again, jumping from side to side effortlessly from his attacks.

Guess I showed off too much. I saw Zubat open his mouth wide, preparing to sink his teeth into Ty's arm. Leech life.

"Oh crap! Ty!"

Without hesitation, Ty forked a paw between Zubat's teeth, twisted his grip, and threw him away.

"Don't worry, Pablo! I'll be fine, just—WATCH OUT!"

But he spoke a little too late. I cried in astonishment as something—someone—bowled me over. Yeah, maybe I lost track of my own battle—should've figured.

Koffing spun against the dirt, and growled,

"That was your first warning, Dino!"

Koffing instantly spun around, and charged again. I tried hitting him with ember, but ended up being vaulted high into the air.

I thought I heard Ty call out my name, but, right now, too many things were rushing over me all at once. Then, out of the bloom, I heard a voice shriek into my head:

 _Your tail! Use your tail!_

 **0~0~0**

Whatever that was, it was amazing. And it wouldn't be the first time he pulled it off, too.

Just as Pablo was falling, he pulled his tail back and suddenly started spinning in mid-air. In moments, he was wrapped in flames, looking like a red, rapid-spinning fireball. Koffing couldn't stop himself in time, and ran right into it, flying back several feet. Pablo flipped and landed feet-first, falling to his hands.

I saw the Relic Fragment still on the ground where the two thugs left it. And I could tell Koffing still had his sights on it. "That was just luck, kid! Now you're REALLY gonna get it!"

I saw Pablo run at him again, flames enveloping his body once more. "I don't think so!"

He started orbiting Koffing in a circular motion, moving faster and faster, and fire started to trail off of him and encircled him. The flames suddenly got higher and higher, until Koffing was completely out of sight. After a dozen more loops, Pablo stopped abruptly and skidded right in front of a dazed Koffing, a line of flame following him. And, faster than you can say "Sweet n' Sour Shaymin," he was charging again.

"Take this! FLAME CHARGE!" He cried, rocketing straight into that gas-head!

"WUAAAAGGHH!"

It was sure enough a direct hit; only this time the attack was strong enough that he REALLY went flying! Blaze's effect must've kicked in just in time.

As Pablo's attack died down, I saw Koffing driven back flat, now just a black smudge on the wall. After a few seconds, gas-head fell into the water around the beach, and bobbed up to the surface, no doubt, out for the count. Pablo smirked in self-satisfaction.

"Done..."

I suddenly noticed Zubat was just floating there, too distracted by his defeated friend to notice anything.

"My turn! _Dark Pulse!_ " I shouted, unleashing a stream of dark purple rings at the bat.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Zubat made a screech in agony, and went flying into the drink along with his criminal companion.

"—There. Now we're done."

I rubbed my hands together to get the fritz off. My dark-type attack was pretty strong, but it left a little staticy feeling afterwards.

"Uggghhh..."

"Owowowww..."

I watched as Koffing and Zubat slowly came to, looking pretty steamed that we beat them, but too tired to even try and attack.

"Had enough?" Pablo asked, smiling.

"Grrrr...Alright, you win. You can KEEP your stupid rock..."

"But just remember: your win was just a fluke!" Koffing grunted.

"Yeah! A fluke—Ow! You just remember that...!" Zubat sneered, as they desperately veered for the exit.

"Yeah! You guys BETTER run!" Pablo barked, as they took off running.

I chuckled in satisfaction, then went to pick up my treasure. Something didn't feel right as I wrapped my paw around it. It felt more—sticky?

"...Ewww!"

"Huh? What's wrong?" Pablo asked looking back at me.

"It's got Zubat's spit on it!"

* * *

It was already daybreak by the time we got out of the cave. Boy, I didn't think we'd spend that much time in there.

I was along the shore, washing my Relic Fragment off from the spit. I didn't feel the sting in my hand where Zubat bit me anymore. I guess it must've worn off; I have the wonders of mystery dungeons to thank for that.

For a minute, I turned back to Pablo. He was sitting on the beach, with one leg crossed over the other, and his back resting upon a rock. He was looking up towards the sky, looking like he was deep in contemplation. Whatever he could be thinking of, I wish I knew.

Drying off my fragment, I walked over to Pablo, who slowly began to notice me coming over.

"Thank you so much for helping me get my treasure back. I never would've gotten it without your help."

"Ah, it was nothin' special. I'm sure any friend like me would have done the same."

A friend. He just said...he was my friend?

"Really, thanks!"

Pablo smiled, giving a thumbs up.

"Like I said, don't mention it."

I sat down alongside him, and we took a minute to watch the setting sun in the horizon.

"So, Pablo. Back there, in the cave...How did you do that? I didn't think Charmanders like you would learn moves like flame wheel, or even extremespeed—at least, not without a certain method, anyway. Even if you did, you said you didn't know any of your skills."

"I thought so, too. I don't even know if I used those skills before. I guess Koffing knocked some sense into me, if you know what I mean."

I chuckled at the little joke he made, and we continued to watch the ocean ahead.

"Then again," Pablo suddenly spoke up, "it's not common for a riolu like you to know Dark Pulse. Unless, of course, you had a certain method. How did you do that?"

"...Well...It's something I taught myself to do. It was mainly because my dad...he..."

I stopped talking. Pablo's curiosity turned to concern as he saw the sadness form in my eyes.

"...Pablo...Can I ask you something?" I asked, after a long moment of silence.

"Shoot."

"Do you know why this rock means so much to me?"

"I guess you're the one who can answer that question."

"Well, this rock is shrouded in mystery. You, see I'm always interested with legends and lore. I always get excited hearing tales of the past, tales that started even before time actually began! Doesn't that make you feel the same way?"

Pablo said nothing, but nodded slowly as my eyes gleamed with excitement.

"Just imagine: hidden caves filled with strange treasures and wonders; uncharted territories shrouded in darkness; and new regions and worlds just ready to be revealed! Those have got to have treasures of all sorts hidden away. And the history! Wouldn't it make such a historic discovery?"

Pablo grinned, and responded encouragingly: "Well, it must mean a lot, coming from you."

I nodded, and continued, "It's what I always dream about—it's all so exciting. And then, one day, I came across my Relic Fragment: this thing."

I showed him my Relic Fragment, which was now tied around my neck.

"That's what I started calling it. Doesn't look like much, I know. But you see the rivets on this thing?"

Pablo looked down closer at the rock's imprints.

"Yeah. Never seen something like that before."

"Neither have I, but it's what inspired me to start exploring in the first place. All I do know is that wherever it goes, there's bound to be treasure, and just imagine where it can take you to get there!

"Past great mountains...across the seas...Beyond Initium Island itself! No matter where it takes me, I'm determined to solve the mystery of my Relic Fragment!"

"Well, don't consider it a walk in the park."

"Huh?"

Pablo gave me a concerned look, and turned back to the sea.

"Even though they were bull—"

"Pablo sighed, narrowly avoiding the word he was about to use. "…they're kinda right about somethin'. I saw how you reacted to those two bullies. And, I'm sorry to admit it, but you're a little timid. You only got your treasure back because I helped."

I was about to complain, but he was right. I WAS a little scared of exploration. I looked down at the sand between my feet.

"...Yeah." I said softly. "I will admit that I'm a coward...

"...But that's why I'm asking you."

Pablo blanked for a few seconds, then turned to me.

"Wait—what?"

This was it. I had to tell him now. There was no holding back once I proposed.

I inhaled deeply, and said:

"I was hoping you could form an exploration team with me."

 **0~0~0**

I felt my eyes widen as the sentence came across me.

"Hang on. Form a...what?"

"You know—an exploration team."

I still couldn't believe it. It was all so sudden: form an exploration team? With him?

"Uh...I think that's a little too much to ask for. What's an exploration team, anyway?"

"Isn't what I said making sense to you yet?" Ty stood up. "That's what exploration teams are for. They do all the stuff that involves treasure, discovery, and things like that!"

"Um...are you sure you want to form an exploration team already?" I stood up.

"Why can't you just find someone else? I'm not saying I don't want to, but still..."

Ty looked down again. "I would. It's just...I was just too scared to make one myself, and...after meeting you..."

Ty became quiet for a minute.

"I-I know I can't do this by myself. I need your help."

"I...I don't know." I looked a little nervous myself. "I've never had experience with this before, as far as I can remember. And—I don't even know if I can be explorer material!"

Ty gave me a calm look. "Pablo, you stood up for me when Koffing and Zubat stole my Relic Fragment, and you helped me get it back. I don't know if it was because of you, but, somehow, I became braver when we faced them together. You've already proven to me you have what it takes to be an explorer, if not, more. So...will you help me? Please?"

I turned my back to him.

 _What do I do now? I'm being pulled out of the blue! I get this little guy's rock for him, and he wants me to form an exploration team? Right now?! How am I supposed to say yes to that? I'm already way too into this!_

 _...But if I say no...I'll break his heart...either that or just encourage him more. I just don't know what to do about it..._

"You said you don't have any memory of yourself, right?"

I turned my head sideways a little.

"Yeah..."

"Don't worry. If it makes you feel better, I'll help you get your memory back, too."

"Really?" I turned back to him. Well, that did make me feel a bit better.

"Really. We'll find the answers to our problems no matter what it takes, but it's your choice whether you want it just as much as I do. So, what do you say?"

I turned back around again, just so that I could think for a bit,

 _It's true, I don't have my memory, so how am I supposed to know what to do? More theoretically, what CAN I do? Hmm...Maybe forming an exploration team wouldn't be such a bad idea. After all, what have I got to lose? Or, put it this way: what have I got left? Might as well take a chance, and see what happens...OK then, it's settled!_

I finally turned around and said the only thing I could: "Alright, kid. You're on!"

Ty instantly jumped up and cried, "R-really? Are you serious?!"

I sighed, and said "Sure. Besides, I have nothing better to do, and nowhere else to go. And, since we're friends already, why not?"

"YEAH!" Ty jumped in excitement. "Thank you so much, Pablo! You and I are gonna make a great team, I promise! Seriously, thank you SO much! Now, c'mon, I know just where we can go!" He yipped, literally yanking me off my feet.

"Alright, alright, lead the way! You just don't have to puuullll me!"

As we raced up the path, only one thought remained in my mind:

 _Well...guess I know where I'm headed. Just hope I know what I'm doing._

 _...Oh, dear Arceus, PLEASE let me know what I was doing._


	3. Chapter 3: The New Recruits

**Author's Note:** _How does one mange to get single symbols like ~ and - into their own lines? I'm trying to do that so I can give a perspective change. So far, I've only been able to do that through horizontal lines. And on that note, how do you make extra space between lines? I've been uploading chapters in story format. Anyone who can help with this?_

* * *

The path through Treasure Town was darkening as the sun became dimmer. Pokémon were starting to head home, and those who attended the shops had obviously closed down.

Nothing had changed much about the guild in the times that I've been on its grounds. The hut was structured to look identically like a Wigglytuff: pink, plump, and smiling. The only difference was there were windows in place of the eyes, and there was a ladder inside the hut, with a large metal gate obstructing it. What lay between us and the guild was a large, circular grate in the ground, for the sentry to detect intruders. I would know: I had stepped on it a couple times.

"This is Wigglytuff's Guild." I told Pablo. "This is where you have to register, first, in order to become an exploration team. Then you can train here until you can become a full-rate exploration team."

I looked back at the tent, and shuddered some.

"Urk! Doesn't something seem strange about this place to you?"

"What're you talking about? It doesn't look like much."

Pablo examined the building top to bottom, then looked at me. "What is it to you?"

"I-I don't know..." I continued to stutter. "It's just...something creeps me out about this place."

"BOO!"

I jumped up with an "EEEK!" and Pablo spun around and prepared to attack.

Something inside me told me to run again, but–hold on. I knew that voice!

I turned to see a sky blue lion cub, a Shinx, trotting up the steps towards us with a goofy grin on his face. Of course he'd be the one to do that.

"Roy!" I growled. "I thought I said NOT to scare me like that! Especially if I'm trying to join the guild!"

"I know!" He snickered, "But I couldn't help myself. It was just too perfect not to! So, you're taking another crack at this, huh?"

He then noticed the Charmander standing next to me. "And who's that kid?"

"This is Pablo, a very recent friend of mine."

"Um, hi." Pablo smiled, waving slightly.

Roy walked up to Pablo, and looked up at him.

"Hmm..."

He got closer, and started to sniff him.

"W-what? What are you doing?" Pablo asked, a bit surprised.

"You...you smell funny." Roy muttered, sniffing him from his stomach up to his neck.

"I smell? Well, that's kinda weird. I came back from...err, a 'swim' earlier. So I shouldn't smell at all."

"It's not that. You just smell—different, from other fire-type pokémon I've met."

Roy sniffed Pablo for a few more seconds, then backed down.

"It's all right, though. Most people I meet smell funny, anyway. And, besides, any buddy of Ty's is a buddy of mine! Nice to meet ya, Pablo!" Roy smiled, lending out his paw.

Pablo shook it slightly, but Roy quickly turned to me. "So, ready to form our exploration team today?"

"Well...um..."

I looked down and shuffled my feet anxiously.

"...Don't take this the wrong way, but Pablo and I decided to form an exploration team together."

"...What?"

"Yeah. We're forming an exploration team together." Pablo restated. I turned around quickly, shoulders hunched.

"B-but...I thought, you and I—weren't we...?"

Roy's expression started to look gloomy, and his head drooped.

"What's the matter?" Pablo asked.

"No, nothing's wrong, it's just—Ty and I were planning to form an exploration team. You know, before he met you..."

"Well, two thugs nearly got away with a "special treasure" of his, so, I did what I could, and—"

"WHAT?!" Roy barked in shock. "You lost our treasure?!"

"Yeah, but Pablo helped me get it back!" I quickly replied.

"...Oh. Whew...thank Arceus..."

I still didn't turn around to face Roy. I didn't want to see him with either a disappointed look, or, worse, an angry one.

I knew this would happen; after all, I originally had planned to form an exploration team with Roy instead. But meeting Pablo, getting his help—ugh! The idea flew right past me.

I was about to say "I'm sorry" but got cut off.

"Hey." Roy said, in a surprisingly calm voice. I turned my head slowly.

"...Yeah?"

"You mind if I join you guys anyway?"

"Huh?" I turned back to face him.

"First off, like I said, any buddy of yours is a buddy of mine. And second, you promised that we would form an exploration team earlier, weren't we? Having a third member's not gonna stop that!"

"Yeah, we were!" I felt the warmth come over me. Thank goodness, Roy wasn't mad at me. "Sure, you can join us!"

"Why not?" Pablo asked. "We could use some more members!"

Roy gave a confident nod to the both of us, as a way of saying "Thank you."

"Okay then—I'll go first." And I slowly stepped onto the grate.

The first thing I heard out of that hole was "Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!"

I didn't move. I wasn't going to run away THIS time. I had Pablo and Roy with me now, so there was nothing to fear.

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"

I was now shaking all over, but I didn't move. I WOULDN'T move.

"The footprint is riolu's! The footprint is riolu's!"

The screechy voice slowly died down. _Well, that was easy._ I thought.

"You may ENTER!"

Okay, forget what I thought. I almost did a back flip seven feet high.

"Wait a minute! You've got two other strangers with you! Get them up HERE!"

I recovered from shock, and moved aside just as Roy came towards the grate.

"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!"

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"

"The footprint is shinx's! The footprint is shinx's!"

"You may ENTER!" The voice boomed again. "Alright, just one more! Get him UP here!"

"Okay, Pablo." I said. "Your turn."

I think Pablo already got the message. Just as the voice beckoned him onto the grid, he walked onto it automatically.

"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!"

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"

"The footprint is...uh...the footprint is...uhhh...the footprint..."

"Diglet? Sentry! ANSWER!"

Everything went quiet for a few seconds. What had happened? Could they not identify Pablo's foot?

"...Um...I don't know. Maybe it's charmander's!"

Apparently not.

"WHAT?! MAYBE!? What the hell does THAT mean?!"

"Well, I can't recognize this one! It's one that you don't normally see around these parts."

"HUMPH! That's pretty crappy! Your job's to identify the pokémon that come here, RIGHT!? How HARD is THAT?!"

"Well, I don't know what I don't know..."

"Ugh...What a waste of life..."

The three of us—or the two of us, at least—were left confused, listening to the conversation.

"Are they...arguing?"

Pablo gave a small chuckle.

"Sure sounds like it!"

He sat down, stretched out his arms and legs, and finally lay down on his back, one leg crossed over the other.

"This could take a while..."

I sighed out of boredom, and sat down alongside him, waiting for something to happen. Roy yawned lazily, then lay down with us. I figured that the two pokémon arguing wasn't going to make time go any faster. Had I known it would take this long just for us to get in, Roy and I would've left right away. I mean, there are a lot more places to go to become an explorer. But this was as close as to where we lived, so I guess it wouldn't hurt to start here.

After a few minutes, Pablo, and I looked at each other, and nodded. We knew what we were both thinking: we had enough waiting.

"HEY!" Pablo shouted down the hole. "All done down there?"

There was no response. Then—

"RIGHT. Sorry to keep you WAITING. It's true we can't identify YOU, and there aren't many Charmanders like you around. But you don't SEEM that bad...Fine, good enough! You may ENTER."

And, with a loud creak, the gates leading inside cranked open.

"Finally!" Pablo said impatiently, getting up and walking toward the ladder inside. "Let's go, guys!"

Yes! This was it! They were letting me—I mean, us in! I quickly dashed ahead of Roy after Pablo, making sure not to trip over myself by accident.

We were finally entering the guild—now all we had to do was join it.

 **0-0-0**

"Hey, check it out! There's a ladder leading underground!"

"Well, DUH! Of course it does!" I threw my arms in the air dramatically. "Why do you think we heard voices underground? It means most of the complex has to be underground."

"Oh, right. Sorry..."

"Well, that's fine. But just keep a more open mind to these things, all right? Now, c'mon!"

Ty gave a confident nod, and went down first.

I slid down the ladder after him, making sure he was out of the way beforehand. Roy quickly followed afterwards. I admit, I figured the ladder was going to go somewhere. Then again, I wasn't expecting the entire guild to be this big.

 _So—this is Wigglytuff's guild.  
_

I observed the room we came into—you know, out of curiosity.

There were pokémon all around us, going on with their daily business for the evening. Not that they really noticed us come in, though: they all seemed too busy. Ty certainly seemed excited about it, nonetheless, looking all over the place with a smile full of wonder.

"Excuse me! ~ "

We turned back around to see a parrot hopping toward us. He had a green chest, a blue crest under his white feathery collar, and blue wings straight down at his sides. His head was shaped like a black B-note, and his tail looked like that hand you see in a metronome that moves to a certain rhythm.

"You are the ones who came in?"

"Uh, yes." Ty said anxiously. The bird lightly bowed his head to us.

"I am Chatot, and I'm the pokémon in the know of this place I'm also the guildmaster's right-hand pokémon! ~ Now—get out!"

Chatot suddenly flapped his wings at us rapidly, which an angry glare on his eyes.

"We have no time for silly surveys, insurance, or whatever gibberish you're blundering us with! Out, out, OUT!"

"W-wait, hang on! We're not selling anything! We're here to form an exploration team! We want to apprentice here at Wigglytuff's guild."

"W-WHAT?! An Exploration Team?!" the bird squawked with a completely shocked tone.

He suddenly turned around, and muttered something to himself, so that we could barely hear him:

"It's hard to see kids like these to be apprentices here. Especially given how hard the training is! Surely, the steady stream of pokémon who flee due to vigorous training proves the point!"

"I'm sorry. Is it really that hard? If it is, we can just try some place else."

"WHA—"

The bird suddenly twisted around back to us. "—No, no. no! It's not hard at all! Not even the slightest! Training here is as easy as reading your ABC's! If you wanted to form an exploration team, why didn't you tell me upfront? Tee-heeeee! ~ "

"...Uh...we did." I muttered flatly.

"Well, it's quite alright, anyway. Many of the exploration teams that do join us most often vanish without a trace. It's become difficult to find those who wish to apprentice, so it's not very often that we get a volunteer, or two. If you follow me, I'm sure the guildmaster can get you enrolled right away. Follow me, please! ~ "

 **0~0~0**

Just to be clear, Roy was probably the first friend I had in my life. While neither of us were that close to each other, we did have one thing in common: exploring was both our favorite thing. How far it would take us, that's another story.

As soon as we passed a window, I instantly dashed over to look outside.

"Wow! We're two floors underground, and yet we can see the entire ocean from here!"

"Ty, think about it." Pablo said, walking over to me. "If you can see the ocean from below here, what does that tell you?"

"Oh! It means this place is part of a cliff—oh. Right." I lowered my head sheepishly.

"Just goes to show." He chuckled. "You gotta take more perspective in these things."

"If you're all finished over there?" Chatot flew toward a rather big door with an orange and pink curl painted on it.

"Now, THIS is the Guildmaster's room. Even though you are new here, there are two things you should know: One. You shall address him only as Guildmaster, or sir, if you will. And two: under any circumstance, never—I repeat, NEVER—be discourteous to him. You do NOT want to see what he's like with a bad temper. Got that?"

We all nodded, and Chatot turned back to the door.

"Gulidmaster? It's Chatot! I'm coming in!

Chatot opened the door and flew to the back of the room, and perched himself next to a rather big, pink figure, a Wigglytuff, it's back turned to us. It was just standing there, motionless.

"Guildmaster Wigglytuff? These are the new apprentices."

He, she—it said nothing.

"Guildmaster. Guildmaster...?"

I slowly walked toward the thing, with a feeling of unease in my stomach.

"...Excuse me, Guildmaster, sir...sir?"

Pablo became the next to speak. "Uh...hi...?"

"HIYA!" The Wigglytuff suddenly spun up and shrieked in a very joyful, yet extremely loud tone. Chatot and I almost hit the ceiling, jumping up so high, both Roy and Pablo were blown back into the wall behind us.

"I thought I said never to do that again!" Chatot growled, recovering from the sudden yelp in his ear (if he had any).

I looked at Wigglytuff like it was insane. Pablo was just blinking in surprise. I think it came in so much of a rush; he didn't have the time to comprehend it.

"How d'ya do? I'm Wigglytuff, and I'm the guild's guildmaster! So, you wanna be an exploration team huh? Well, let's hop to it!"

Wigglytuff did some sort of march as he came towards us. "First, we're gonna need your name! Now, what might it be, I wonder?"

Name? Uh-oh. We didn't think about our team name yet. I looked to Pablo for support, but he looked just as stumped as me.

"Uh—we don't know."

"What? You've gone all this way through the guild and you didn't even think of a name?" Chatot said, surprised.

"Hang on. How about Team Poképals?" I spoke up.

"That's what I was thinking!" Wigglytuff suddenly cheered.

"Suits you more." Roy said, looking at me bluntly. "How about Team Lightning?"

"Sorry, the name's already been taken." Chatot stated.

"Look, if we're going to think of a name, we need to think of something that suits the three of us."

Pablo started rubbing his chin for a minute.

"Something like—"

He suddenly snapped his fingers, and proudly declared:

"Team Sunstars! How about that?"

I looked up at him. "Why that name?"

"Put it this way. The sun brings light by day, right?"

"Right."

"And the stars generate light in the evening, don't they?"

"Yeah...I still don't understand."

"So our types match perfectly! My type—fire—is the sun's light, and aura like yours shines bright: like a shining star! And Roy, your electricity kinda sparkles the same way! It fits us perfectly!"

Pablo suddenly added, "There's a pun along the lines of 'It doesn't get any brighter than that', but I'd rather not. So, how about it?"

"Yeah! It's perfect!" Roy said happily.

I thought the name over, and made a confirming nod.

"Yeah, I like that name, too! Okay, we're Team Sunstars!"

Wigglytuff suddenly jumped up.

"All righty, then! I'll register you as Team Sunstars. Registering—" And he took a large, deep breath, inflating to the size of a Lickilicki.

"Wait, what're you—"

"Get down!" Chatot squawked.

"W-what?!"

"Registering—"

"Don't argue! DUCK!"

"All registered—"

The next fifteen seconds of our time in that room have been burned into my memory ever since we first came here. In fact, whenever we have new apprentices arrive, it always brings me back to this with a smile. And it went a little something a-like-a this:

"YOOM ** _—TAAAAAAHHHH_ _!_** "

With a white flash, Wigglytuff suddenly screamed so loud that his voice rang through the entire complex. Roy was flat on the ground, covering his ears as tight as he could. Chatot—Well, I completely lost sight of him, whether he was blown away by the scream or clinging for dear life to the ceiling. Pablo was just standing there, letting himself be blown back. I couldn't tell what anyone was saying: my eardrums were on the verge of exploding!  
And, all at once, the screaming stopped.

"—Done! You're now an exploration team! Now, all you need is your equipment!"

Wigglytuff turned to face Chatot.

"Chatot!"

"Y-yes, guildmaster?"

"Let's get our new apprentices rallied up!"

I sighed in a mix of unease and relief. "Are all the guildmasters like this?" I asked Chatot, as Wigglytuff began to rummage for something in the back of the room.

"Well...No. Just this one in particular."

Pablo said nothing. He just stood there, looking absolutely oblivious by the screaming, his tail sticking straight out behind him, the flame nearly extinguished. But there was a silly grin on his face.

"Pablo?" He didn't say anything. "Hey, Pablo!" Roy tapped him on the shoulder. Still nothing.

"Best...registration...EVER..."

Wigglytuff came back with a rather large bag and put it in front of us.

"There you go! Your exploration kit! It's got everything you need to become an exploration team! Well, go on! Pull something out!"

Looking inside, Pablo quickly yanked out two metal badges that looked like pokémon capsules with wings.

"Those are your explorer badges. They're your team's official identification."

"And this thing—" I pulled out a scrolled up paper that looked a bit worn.

"Oh, that one's my favorite!" Wigglytuff joyously interrupted. "That's the wonder map! It's a wonderful map of convenience! Perfectly useful for anywhere, anytime!"

"And this?" I asked, pulling out a brown duffel bag.

"That's the treasure bag! You can use it to store any items you find in mystery dungeons. Its capacity grows bigger with your success! It's a very handy bag!"

The bag looked like it had a yellow-gold circle imprinted on the cover, with small flares shining off it. It seemed to match our team's name nicely. How'd they know to do that?

That wasn't important. I could feel something in the bag already. There was a purple cloth, and a bow that turned a deep cobalt blue when Pablo touched it.

"What's that?" Pablo asked, pointing to the blue cloth.

"Oh this? It's a Guts Scarf. It bumps up your attack whenever you inflicted with a status condition." I noted.

"And that's an aura bow." Chatot continued. "It raises all of your stats by one. It also can change color, depending on who wears it. It may not seem like much, but at least you won't lose it."

"Wow...So my aura color's blue? Heh, sweet." Pablo chuckled, fiddling with the bow.

"Well, don't be selfish! Let me see what mine is!" Roy pleaded. Pablo smiled, and let him hold the cloth for a minute. In a small flash, the bow turned a light purple.

"Violet!" He declared.

"So, wanna know what your aura is, Ty?"

"It's orange." I said quickly.

"Wait, how did you—" Pablo started.

"He's related to the aura pokémon. He can read anyone's aura, even his own. Duh!" Roy chuckled.

"Oh, well this is surprising!" I added. "Chatot, your aura color is—pink?"

"Ha! Please. In case you never realized, pink is a manly color!" Chatot boasted, flexing his wings to set in the feeling.

"I see..." Pablo said, smiling slyly. "But your aura color still says that you're also cute and pretty!"

"Oooooooh! How wonderful! Chatot! You and I are the exact same color! Isn't that an amazingly wonderful thing? ~ "

Even through those black feathers, I could see a deep blush form in his face.

"Oh, hush! Just...HUSH!" He squawked sheepishly.

I didn't mind. I knew that we had more than enough of what we needed.

"Thank you so much, guildmaster!" I bowed my head respectfully.

"Yup! And best of luck with your exploration team!" Wigglytuff joyously announced. "Of course, right now, you're only apprenticing, so do you best—to train!"

"We will!" I decided, beginning to sound excited.

"Let's do the best we can, Pablo!"

"You know it, partner!"

 **0-0-0**

I was still a little dizzy, shaking a little as we followed Chatot through another hallway and to one of the doors on the side. But I felt happy, ridiculously happy. Being in the guild was so much fun, already!

I suddenly bumped into Ty. And Chatot spun around to face us.

"Now, the left corridor leads to the girls' dorms, and the corridor to your right leads to the boys' dorms, which is where you will sometimes stay during housekeeping..."

He then led us to a room at the end.

"...And here is your room!"

Ty and I walked inside for a look. The inside was small, but looked comfortable enough for at least three people. The only presence of light in the room came only from the low-hanging moon in the night sky. The beds looked like three small piles of grass, but I didn't care. I was getting too tired to complain.

"...Bed..."

I trudged to one of the piles and collapsed on it. Almost instantly, I felt relaxed. Pretty comfortable for a lump of grass. I watched as Roy did a belly flop onto another, then rolled around in it to get comfortable. Ty slumped onto the third grass bed, and settled himself there.

"All right, get a good night's sleep, you three. You begin first thing tomorrow, so go to sleep early! Don't stay up late! That is all." And with that, he flew out.

* * *

"Hey, Pablo?" I heard Ty mumble sleepily, after a few minutes—or, what felt like it, anyway. "You still awake?"

"I was...then you woke me up." I sat up with a grunt.

It was pitch black in our room now. The only way I could see anything was the lone moonbeam shining through the small window.

Roy was dead asleep, slumped on his stomach, drool slowly oozing out of his mouth. Ty was sitting up on his bed, looking towards me. Man, he didn't even look tired yet.

"Sorry. It's just...my heart's been racing today over every little thing—but I'm glad I finally forced myself to come here. I was expecting the Guildmaster to be real scary, but he seems pretty nice, once you get to know him. We're probably going to be doing a lot of stuff tomorrow, but I'm not scared. In fact—I'm really looking forward to what we'll face tomorrow!" He whispered excitedly. "And I wouldn't have been able to without you, Pablo!"

"Yeah, yeah. Just remember, we've got our day on the job, first thing in the morning. And, while you're at it, try to get some sleep."

"You're right. We've just became an exploration team, so—*yawn* let's do our best, okay...?"

Ty lazily turned on his side, closed his eyes, and fell asleep. He looked a little cute, sleeping curled up like that. So did Roy: he was still drooling some on his bed.

But that wasn't on my mind at the moment; there were still many unanswered questions.

One: who was I? Two: How did I become a pokémon? Three: How did I end up on that beach in the first place? And four, above all that: why did all this seem so familiar?

And five: Why was I asking myself all these questions? It's not like anyone else knew the answers any better. Not that all this was really crucial. I'd kinda gotten used to being a pokémon already, being here for the first time, so I had all day tomorrow to answer those questions. Besides, thinking about it wasn't going to get me anywhere.

"Okay, Ty..." I said, laying on my back and closing my eyes.

"...We'll give it our all, tomorrow."


	4. Chapter 4: Day One

"HEY! RISE and SHINE, ROOKIES!"

"HOLY SHIT WE'RE UNDER ATTACK! BATTLE STATIONS! _BATTLE STATIONS!_ "

That was the first thing I heard in the morning, along with the crackle of a fire. I would've freaked, had I not been too drowsy to think.

"Nnngh...My poor ears..." I whimpered.

"H-HEY! WATCH it! Get those other two UP already!"

I rolled over, sat up, and looked at the source of noise with my eyes half-open.

"Wha...What's going on? Who's there?"

"I'm LOUDRED. I'm a former APPRENTICE here at the guild! And I'M not getting in any TROUBLE just because you two slept in LATE! If the guildmaster gets ANGRY cause of that— "WHOO-WHEE! It gives me goose bumps just THINKING about it! ANYWAY, I'm not waiting for you to get yourselves into TROUBLE! So GET IN GEAR!" He boomed, and stomped out.

I shook my head to straighten my bearings, and stretched out. Boy, I never woke up to anyone's voice like that since—actually, I've never heard a voice that loud.

Hearing that Pablo as a human reminded me of a story I've heard. I remember it was about a human, who, like Pablo, had been turned into a pokémon on this world. He was destined to save the world, and once it was fulfilled, he returned back to his own world. I never got his name, so I didn't really know much else about him.

Pablo was standing in somewhat of a battle stance, with an utterly confused look on his face: well, at least he was present. Roy's bed was empty. Where the heck did he—ah, there he was. Clinging to the ceiling like a Golbat.

"What...the...hell was THAT?! What was that guy's problem?!" Pablo growled, rubbing his head.

"I think...that was our morning wake-up call?" I muttered, as Roy dropped from the ceiling onto his feet. "He said something about being late—oh yeah!"

I snapped back to my senses. "We became apprentices at Wigglytuff's guild! So, that means—"

Silence.

"...OH FUDGE! We slept in!" Pablo blurted, and suddenly shoved us out the door. "Move it, noobs! Move it!"

* * *

"You're LATE, rookies!" Loudred shouted at us.

"Hey! Don't make me come over there." Pablo growled.

"Loudred! Hush! Your voice is ridiculously loud!"

Loudred grumbled as Chatot settled back onto his post next to Wigglytuff, who stood before the entire group.

"All right, Wigglytuff! Everyone's here! Now, will you address the crew for us?"

"...Zzzzzzz...*snort*...Zzzzzzz..."  
Several pokémon snickered upon hearing Wigglytuff's loud snoring.

"Is he...asleep?" I asked.

"I don't know. Looks like it."

"Isn't this guy the BEST?" a Diglett whispered to us.

"The guildmaster never seizes to amaze me!" A Dugtrio added.

"So he IS asleep." Pablo confirmed.

"Yup. It LOOKS like he's wide awake." A southern sounding voice came from the crowd.

"Eek! He's asleep, but his eyes are wide open! How disgusting!" A high-pitched Sunflora said to a Chimeco.

Chatot finally spoke up nervously. "Thank you, guildmaster! Thank you for your—er... words of wisdom! Remember, everyone, you must take your guildmaster's words to heart!"

"...Is that a trick-statement, or what?" I heard Roy whisper.

"And lastly! Everyone, remember your cheers!" Chatot finished.

"A-ONE! A-TWO! AND A-ONE-TWO-THREE!"

"ONE!" Everyone started in unison.

"Don't shirk work!"

"TWO! Run away and pay!"

"And THREE! Smiles go for miles!"

"Okay pokémon!" The parrot announced, "Time to get to work!"

"Hooray!"

* * *

Well, that was interesting. Some pokémon screaming in my ear was supposed to be a WAKE-UP CALL? That was probably the only thing I would've regretted working here for.

"...Um...What should we do now?" Ty asked nervously.

"I dunno. Maybe we should be getting to work, too?"

"Well, of course you're getting to work today!" Chatot suddenly squawked. "Come along, we'll see to your first assignment right away."

He ushered us to follow him upstairs, then showed towards the bulletin board on the left-hand wall as we came up.

"This is the Job Notice board, where pokémon from various parts of the continent post job requests. Now, you know that the flow of time has become corrupt, and since then, jobs here are difficult to manage, correct?"

"Right." Ty said, making sure I got the message, too. "And, because of that, more bad pokémon have been breaking out, right?"

"Wait, the flow of time's corrupted? As in hours and minutes? How is that possible?"

"Nobody knows for certain," Chatot explained, "but that's why there are a number of exploration teams attempting to find the cause. And, also, with time going out of control, there have been a recent outbreak of mystery dungeons."

"So, Pablo, remember that place we got my relic fragment back from?"

"I know, I know. That was a mystery dungeon. I already know everything about those. You told me yourself, remember?"

"Oh, yeah." Ty replied sheepishly. "Sorry, guess I got a little caught up with everything, I forgot I'd already told you."

"So, I'm guessing we'll be doing jobs in mystery dungeons?"

"Exactly!" Chatot sang. "That makes it easier for me to explain! Now, let's see if we can find a job that fits your standards."

Chatot scanned through the job posts, till a small one caught his eye.

"Let's see...Ah! Here we go! Here's your first assignment."

Ty and I both looked at what looked like a poorly written note. And oh, how poorly written it was. Since Roy was too short to see the paper, I started reading it aloud:

" _Hi! My name's Spoink! An outlaw ran off with my most prized possession, my pearl, and hid it somewhere. That pearl to me is life itself! If I don't get it back, I don't what I'd do! I've heard it was sighted at a peak of a watery Bluff—_ "

"Oh, I don't like where this is going." I muttered.

Ty acted like he didn't listen to me, and said, "Just finish reading."

" _It's a very unsafe place, and I'm too scared to go down there. Could you retrieve it for me? I beg for your help, exploration members! From – Spoink._ "

"...Wait a minute. That's IT? We just have to find some lost item!? That doesn't sound like fun at all!"

Ty's eyes sparkled. "I want something with a little more adventure involved! Finding treasure, exploring unknown places: things like that!"

Chatot's expression quickly turned into a glare, and he snapped Ty out of his daydream. "Hush! It's important that both of you pay your dues! Now, let me run this by you again, just so the rules stick: if one of you is defeated in a mystery dungeon, you'll both be kicked out, and you'll lose half your money and at least half of your items in the process! If that happens, you'll be brought back here. So never throw caution to the wind, lest you have a death wish!"

Ty swallowed a lump of shock in his throat and replied, stammering: "Yes, Chatot."

Chatot returned to his normal expression, then finished "Well, if you know what your job is, I suppose you get to it. Off you go!"

"Wait a minute—"

"C'mon, Ty." Roy chuckled, gripping the exploration bag in his mouth, and tossing it over Ty's shoulder, before he even noticed. "It doesn't have to be all about treasure all the time."

"Huh—wha—h-hey!"

"Yeah, Ty! Don't be selfish!" I teased, pushing him towards the exit.

* * *

Ty pulled out the wonder map as we left the guild.

"This is Drenched Bluff, right over here." He pointed to a small ridge of rock next to the beach, the one where we probably first met.

"So, that's obviously a mystery dungeon too, right?" Roy asked.

"That goes without saying. It's just a few miles west of Beach Cave. We'll just make our way from there—are you ok?"

Ty noticed I was looking down at my feet as we walked from the Guild.

"Oh, I'm fine. Let's go."

"Hey, Pablo." Ty asked, as we reached Drenched Bluff's entrance. "Did we try on any of our gear, yet?"

"Not yet. Hang on a sec."

I pulled out the Guts Scarf, and helped fasten it around Roy's neck.

"This will bump up my attacks quite nicely!" He stated proudly, while I pulled out the bow—what was left of it, at least.

"Huh? Hey, wasn't that a bow earlier?" Ty asked.

"Yeah, it was. But bows aren't really my thing, so I undid it and made it an aura scarf—or, bandanna, in my case. So—"

I tied the cloth around my neck, and showed it off. "—How do I look?"

"You look like a charmander with a scarf." Roy chuckled.

"You look great, I guess. But, are you sure that's even allowed?"

"Don't worry! It's our stuff, now, so we can do whatever we want with it."

I turned to face the entrance of the bluff.

"Now let's get this over with...It's probably going to be a long trip."

* * *

 **Drenched Bluff, BF 1**

"Ugh...Ty!"

"What?

"I'm hungry!"

"We just got here! *sigh* I'm sorry, we don't have any food on us right now, so can you hold out a little longer?"

Drenched Bluff, sadly, held true to its name. The inside of this bluff was just as cold as Beach Cave, only it had lots of soggy moss covering the rocky floor. And, yes, it was very difficult for me to avoid stepping in it.

No sooner had I waddled several paces behind Ty, I felt something sticky attach to my foot. I tried shaking it off, but it wouldn't budge. I sat down and yanked the thing off my foot to see it up close.

Great. I thought. A rock. Something to ease my trouble. I can probably chuck this at—hold on...

"Guys! Oh, guys! ~ "

"What? What's the matter?"

"I found it! I found the pearl! ~ " I proudly pulled up the object for the both of them to see.

Ty and Roy ran back to me, and inspected the object I found. Ty shook his head.

"No, No. A Spoink pearl is always pink, unless it's a shiny one. You just found a wonder orb."

"Oh. Never mind."

"Wait, wait, wait!"

I was about to toss the orb away, but Ty quickly grabbed my wrist to stop me.

"That orb might be of some use to us. Just put it in here in case we need it, later."

Ty opened the exploration bag's front pocket, and I stuffed the orb inside. "Let's keep going. There's no food on this part of the dungeon, and there's a chance we might get stuck here."

I sighed whole-heartedly, and trudged through the muck. I wasn't afraid to go in these dungeons all by myself. It's just, how come I felt like I was going nowhere with this exploration? And if I did go with someone, why would I go with no one else other than Ty?

It's probably because he was the one I trusted the most. So, why not? I mean it's not like we were going anywhere, anytime soon.

 **0~0~0**

I wasn't expecting an exploration job to be so challenging. Not just Shellos anymore, but Lileep, Anorith, and Chingling tried to confuse us on the remaining floors. Fortunately, Roy's electric-type attacks made short work of them. We encountered most wild pokémon separately, too, so it was usually a short fight. I didn't mind taking on wild pokémon by myself; after all, I knew that I had two friends who could help me when I needed it. Of course, they needed help, too.

"ROY!" I hollered, from another room.

Pablo and I were still fighting off two Lileep and a Chingling on the fifth floor. They didn't seem tougher than us, but they still had him outnumbered. Plus, it was an unfair match-up against a fire- and fighting-type.

"A little help here!" Pablo shouted, desperately using ember to take down a lileep, who countered with constrict.

"I'm on it! Just get outta the way!"

"What are you—?"

"Shock Wave!" he shouted, tensing his fur up with electricity and launching three beams of light blue electricity it at the Chingling and the other two pokémon, zapping all three of them at once. In that one move, all three were down.

Pablo stood up, stared at the remaining current of the attack, and asked, "How'd you learn to do that?"

"My Dad gave me a TM for that move. It's one of my best electric-type moves so far, especially on water. There's a chance that these Lileep here come in packs, so if you wanna leave, let's get going."

"In a minute!" Pablo shouted, running toward the back of the room. "I spyeth an apple betwixt the shrubbery!"

"Uh...is he always like this?" Roy asked me, as Pablo departed for the piece of fruit.

"Hey, what do you expect? We'd just met, after all."

 **0-0-0**

 **Drenched Bluff Peak**

"Ha! I thought this would be way harder than Chatot said it was! All the enemies here were cakewalk!" I boasted, taking another bite of the apple.

"Heh, that's funny. I thought you were still afraid of water-types."

"Yuck it up all you want, Roy." I chuckled. "Just remember, you're yucking to the leader of this team."

I dusted myself off, and observed the room we came into. We were in a rather open-domed room, and, thank Arceus, no mud around. There was also a rather large fountain at the top of a hill in the center, but I veered away from that, having gotten enough water in my system for once.

I felt my foot hit something, and heard a faint rolling, then a small splash. I accidentally kicked another orb into—wait. That thing was pink. That had to be—

"Hey guys! I found the pearl!"

I got on my knees and attempted to reach out for it, while trying to avoid touching the water.

"Well, c'mon!" Ty said, walking over. "Just grab it!"

"I-I can't! It's too far away."

"It's only a few feet from your hand! Are you going in the water or not?"

"Stop that! You're not helping!" I snapped.

"Well, you're the leader. So what if you're a fire-type? Weren't you brave the first time I met you?"

"That was a different story! Now you're asking me to—"

"Ugh! Just let me do it!"

There was an awkward silence as Roy walked up toward the pool, hopped in, and waddled through the water. Then, almost instinctively, he swiped his tail upwards at the pearl, flicking it out of the water, and let it roll at Ty's feet.

"There. That easy." Roy said, as Ty picked up the pearl and put it in the bag.

"Easy for you to say...anyway, we've got our client's item. Let's get back to the Guild before the mutant Feebas start showing up."

* * *

 **Back at the guild...**

"...Hang on...Here ya go!"

Spoink started bouncing around, humming a little tune while enjoying the reunion with his lost little ball.

"Thanks so much for finding my pearl! I don't know what I would've done without it!"

"Well, we got soaked just looking for it, so we can thank you for that later." Pablo said jokingly.

I lightly slapped him on the back of the head, then put a paw behind my neck, saying, "Aw, it was nothing, really. We're just happy we could help out."

"Oh! I almost forgot! Here's your reward!"

Spoink gave us three bottles of nutrients, and one bag of poké (the currency of the mystery dungeon world)

"Whoa! Four thousand poké! Man, it's our first day on the job and we're rich already!"

I felt my own eyes bug out at the sight of our pay.

"That's great work, you three! Now, do pay up, if you please! ~ "

"Pardon?"

"Although I hate to ruin your moment of triumph, I'm sorry—"

Chatot suddenly snatched the money away with his beak.

"—the currency that apprentices like you earn must be shared with the guild. That's the rule."

"WHAT!?"

Ty practically fell flat on his face.

"You gotta be _kidding_ me! We've worked hard for that! That's our money!"

Pablo gave a low growl in his throat.

"No, it's OUR money." Chatot replied plainly. "THIS is your money."

Four hundred poké. That's all he gave back.

"Wow, that's only...thirty-six thousand less of what we would get? Woop-de-doo..."

"You three did a great job today! Make sure to keep it up! ~ "

I gave a heavy groan in defeat. I definitely didn't see this coming, either.

"Everyone! Thanks for waiting!"

I turned to see a wind-chime looking pokémon float from the other side of the room, a female Chimeco.

"Dinner's ready!"

The whole guild seemed to make an uproar in cheers, though I still didn't seem to notice.

I looked at Pablo. He didn't seem to pay attention.

"Aw, don't feel so bad, Pablo." I smiled as Chatot hopped away. "Four hundred isn't so bad. It's better than none, right? And besides, we helped out two clients today. Doesn't that seem promising enough?"

Pablo looked at me, and grinned.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Besides, there's probably, like, a TREASURE load of money somewhere here!" Roy suddenly laughed whole-heartedly.

I chuckled, and Pablo added "And who knows? Maybe we'll get some of it for ourselves!"

We all suddenly stared at each other, wide-eyed.

"...Pfft...PFFFTTHAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!"

We were literally on the floor, laughing as hard as we could. I don't know what was so funny about that. It just was!

Finally, pulling ourselves together, we turned to the mess hall.

"C'mon, gang! It's chow time!"

 **0-0-0**

The mess hall. Probably one of my favorite things about this place.

There were about eight tables, some were connected to one another, and in the center was the main table, probably big enough to serve fourteen pokémon.

Tonight, the mess hall was packed with pokémon. Not sure whether any of them stayed here or not, but still, all was fair in variety.  
The food consisted of fruit—yes, nothing but fruit. But I didn't mind. I was pretty hungry, after a whole day of craziness.

We took our time with our meals. But I was pretty bored with the course, so—

"Look, guys! No hands!"

"Don't play with your food, Pablo." Ty chuckled, watching me balance the three berries on my snout.

"What? This is fun!"

Before I could lose balance, I quickly flipped the berries in the air, and gobbled each one as they fell back down.

"It's all in the balance. Let's see somebody try and top that!"

"Oh, yeah? Watch this!"

Roy started spinning an apple on his tail, then rapidly chomping it up it until the core dropped onto the table.

"One must have manners, boys. Don't think that we take charge for silliness like that." Chatot said, over several applauds and turned to finish his meal.

"Hey, hey! Your friends' sure have talent with their appetites! Anyway, it's nice to have fresh blood like you joining us, hey, hey."

"Yeah, thanks. You might want to watch out for these two. Once they start eating, there's no stopping them!"

"Oh my gosh! Be careful! When it comes to eating, Bidoof's the one with a cast-iron stomach!"

"Aw, shucks, guys! Don't embarrass me!"

I continued to listen to Ty's conversation with a Corphish, a small lobster pokémon, and Sunflora, a sunflower pokémon sitting in front of us. I couldn't help but smile as I heard them laugh together. Yeah, we were probably going to make some good friends here.

After a good meal, we decided to turn in early. So, we said our good nights to everyone, and headed to our room. Ty hung his relic fragment on the wall, and Roy jumped up onto the nearest bed and curled up on the grass. I felt myself collapse on my bed again, and almost fell asleep on contact.

"Heh, I never knew anyone who could sleep that fast!"

I grinned at Roy. "Well, I'm tired here, so we can just leave it at that."

"So, what happened today?" Ty refreshed, as he sat on his bed. "We had our first exploration, which went okay; we succeeded our exploration, and got our pay, that was great; and Chatot took about ninety percent of it and left us the last ten percent. Now THAT wasn't. But, I was still glad that we could help Spoink out; at least we got something out of that."

"That's just the way the guild works, I guess. We can't do anything about it." Roy sighed. "Still, there's always tomorrow, right?"

Ty nodded, fell onto his back, and slowly drifted off to sleep, while Roy did the same. I thought one more time through my head as I dozed off:

 _Tomorrow...  
_

 _If this is what we faced today, what's in store for us tomorrow?_


End file.
